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Ron Paul’s thought-provoking choice on racist’s $$$

I know I haven’t posted in a few days, so I finally found something worth posting. Even though this really isn’t going to be a long post, I believe it bears mention on some other wide reaching issues as far as money given to people and other entities are considered.

This was actually a blog post from The Swamp, Chicago Tribune’s Washington Bureau and from the cursory glance of the post, most of the posts spoke of Ron Paul’s Libertarianism, and why this political ideology fostered the atmosphere for him to accept money from an open white supremacist. The story reports that Ron Paul said he accepted the money on the basis that it this guy now has less money with which to spew hatred around the world, and also that Ron Paul’s campaign now has $500.00 more in his campaign coffers.

Personally, I’m more inclined to agree with the second reason; the fact that his campaign now has more money.

I wish people would stop being beholden to others on the basis of money. I wish people would take a Ron Paul stance and say that the money was needed and run and do what needs to be done with it. Understandably, campaign spending is another ball of wax as to who you can accept money from and what you can do with it, and spending and donation caps, but be that as it may, it appears to me that Ron Paul has the right idea about money. And of course I’m about to tie it specifically to black institutions, or rather as Robert Michael Franklin says in Crisis In The Village, “anchor institutions.”

Why is it that we as a black community feel that we must be beholden to those that give us the money? We listen to what they say to us and we know that it is bad advice and yet and still we listen to them! Black churches and black schools rationalize that “we need the money” and accept the money under terms that are not beneficial to the people who are supposed to benefit from these anchor institutions. (There are also institutions who severely need the money but refuse to accept any money in order to stay solvent, regardless of whatever contractual agreement they’re tied to.)

Black people have a responsibility to each other to do the absolute best at all times, and not be beholden to anyone but ourselves. We must determine for ourselves what is best for us instead of allowing others who have historically shown themselves incapable of doing so, and shown that they flat out do not care about us. We MUST set the course for ourselves instead of letting others do so.

So the next time, you therreader, gets something, it money, or some other form of responsibility, please do with it that which will positively affect your community in the future, not settling for mere short term improvement, but rather leaving a legacy of love.

Ron Paul’s thought-provoking choice on racist’s $$$

by Frank JamesYou have to hand it to Ron Paul. Most presidential candidates who weren’t running as white supremacists themselves would reflexively return a donation from a self-proclaimed racist so fast they would break speed records for financial transactions.

But as has been reported, Paul has decided to keep a $500 donation from Don Black of West Palm Beach who runs a website called Stormfront whose slogan is “White Pride World Wide.”

As Paul’s campaign explained, it plans to keep the money because that will reduce the cash Black has to spend on spreading his controversial ideology by $500.

And, according to the campaign, another good will occur. Paul will have $500 more with which to spread his libertarian message of freedom from big government, including his opposition to the Iraq War.

One freedom Paul has comes from the unlikelihood he’ll receive his party’s nomination. If he were a real threat to be the Republican nominee, he would’ve given back the money immediately since no top tier candidate would want to take a chance on losing the big prize because of the kind of controversy surrounding this kind of controversy.

But a lot of money is given to candidates by supporters with views out of the mainstream, views many other Americans would find objectionable. That’s a given. The only difference is that Black doesn’t hide his views.

Still, the unwritten rule in politics is that when you find yourself getting money from someone controversial because of what they do or say, someone with views repugnant to most Americans, you give their cash back like it’s radioactive.

Paul’s approach is certainly unorthodox, like so much about the man. That doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. And because it’s so different a way of handling such a situation, it presents an opportunity for a discussion about what’s right and wrong in such situations. In short, it makes you think.

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2 thoughts on “Ron Paul’s thought-provoking choice on racist’s $$$”

Any racist dollars, ultimately says to the world thsat, “these are my constituents.” $500 is not going to make him or break him, plus the comment, “it plans to keep the money because that will reduce the cash Black has to spend on spreading his controversial ideology by $500,” is racist in itself.